machado



Oct. 28, 1952 B. MACHADO 2,615,632

DECIMAL POINT INDICATOR FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed March 15, 1949 3Sheets-Sheet 1' EJ@@@@@@@@@ @0@@@@@@@ Q @c@@ n OCD OO DGGQ) ECOINVENTOR.

FIE E :1 BY ANTHQNY b. MACHADO Oct. 28, 1952 A. B. MACHADO DECIMAL POINTINDICATOR FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Ilarch' 15, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet3 u v U 2. A x v k i 2% 5 i Q 2. w m lw s. D N 2 I X 3 2 321 2 ISL I p i:L 2 2 S m mmmvfinmwn.

UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE?f1? DECIMAL POINT INDICATOR FOR,

CALCULATING MACHINES Anthony B. Machado, San Leandro, Calif.,' issignorto Friden Calculating MachineCm, Inc., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication March 15, 1949; Serial No; 81,495

This invention relates to calculating machines and, moreparticularly, toa decimal'point'indicator for such machines. H

In calculating machines of the full keyboard type, having a plurality ofrows of depressible amount keys, it is generall desirable to providesome means of clistinguishingthe keys to the left ofthe decimal pointfrom the keys to the right thereof and also for marking off the hundredsI 8 Claims. (Cl. 235-145) keyboardof a calculatingmachine incorporatingthe novel decimal point indicating mechanism.

Figure "2' is a side elevationof oneof the. k ey banks show'n inFigure 1. c

Figure 3 is a cross sectional ,view taken: along the line 3-3 in Figure2. g I Figure 4 is a front view of a portion of. the

decimal point restoring mechanism.

General description r w of keys'from the thousands row, the hundreds 1Or 1 of thousands row from the millions row etc. Intheaccompanying.drawings, thepresentim Also, in those machines which areprovided with ventionis shown asincorporated in a calculating keyboardcheck dials, it is likewise desirable to machineofthe typedisclosed muPatent NO; mark Ofi the check dials in correspondence with 2,229,889,issued to Carl M. F; Friden on J anuary the pointing Ofi f, thekeyboard- T present 28, 1941. .As-shoWniniFigure 1,machinesof.this'disclosu e illustrates a. means for so marking oif type are providedvwith a plurality of ordinal the e r and Check 11213 of calclflatingrows of depressible amount keys 20, by means of p togethet' fh means forclearmg which selectediamounts'may be entered into the erasing. theprevious setting of the indicators accumulator ofvthe machinebydepression of the when a new Set-up is required h past it plus bar 2|or the minus bar 22. At the foot of has always been necessary for theoperator to each NW of keys, there is also provided an manually andindividually restore the decimal ordinal release key 23 which whendepressed. point indicators to their, nonindicatingpositions will causethe release of any depressed amount n a e p gd the various Qrders of keyin its associated keybank. The machine 'is' the machm? 1S q q Waccording also provided with a keyboard clear key 24 which, the Pmventloni mampulated member 13 when depressed will release anyand allamount PFOVIded 9 simultaneously "estoring an the keys depressed. 'Themachine is also provided F P f d P to their normal or with a shiftablenumeralwheel carriage 25* in mdlcatmggpPsltlonsg which is mounted-"arowof revolutions counter Hence, ltls an obJect of present Invention dials26 and also a'ro'w of accumulator dials (not to i a noYel decimal pointindicator for shown) for accumulating amounts'entered intoCa1cu1at1ngm2}chmeS- themachine by means -of the amount keys 20.

Another QbJect of the invention is to Provide The present machine isalsoprovided witha a decimal point" indicator which at one Setting setof keyboardset-up indicators or check dials willshow the location of thedecimal point. for one of 'f g located-immediately ve both the keyboardand also'the keyboard check each row of amount keys f the purposevdialsindicating the value of the key depressedin its Another obJect ofthe invention is to provide associated key bank. The check dials r Operanovel: meansfor retaining the decimal point t directly fr m t amountkeys gu d indicators in either their indicating or theirnonthis-purpose, each key stem 28 '(Figurezl ofthe' indicatingpositions. keys 20'is provided with a'formed-over ear-29- Another objectof the invention is to provide. which lies above a finger 30 formed on apivoted" means for simultaneously returning all of the bail 31 extendinglongitudinally of the machine: decimal point indicators from theirindicating As shown in Figural the fingers "30am varied positions totheir non-indicating position in length so as to Cause the bail 3| tobeirocked Another object of'th'e invention isto provide hm adlfierentlal m u on i P o s amanipulable slide which is common to, and33by'the depresslonof a cooperates with, each of the decimal point indi-3, 3 xg h P carries? s ws? cators for simultaneously returning all ofthe g fifii i l gj g g gf f gf g fz ef i i j theilimdicating p'csmonstotheir shaft 36 is rotatably journalle d at its f orw id non-indicat ng130511310115... v in thevback plate '38 of the keyboardafnd.

Other ob ects of the 1nVeIltlOI'3. Wl become at its rearward end in anauxiliary frame plate apparent from the following description of one 3 9which is Supported m the plate 1 m particular embodiments of theinvention which of Suitable Spacer studsfML I Q is shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a plan View of a portion ofthe Thebails 3i and sectors 34 are urged-inn clock wise direction; asviewed from the front of the machine, by means of torsion springs 4| soas to cause a zero stop 42, formed on each of the bails, to be broughtinto contact with a suitable abutment surface provided on the plate 38.Hence, when none of the amount keys 20 are depressed, the check dial 2!will be rotated to a position in which a is viewable through an aperture43 provided in the keyboard cover plate 44. How' ever, when any one ofthe amount keys 20 is depressed and held in its depressed positionbymeans of a suitable latch slide 45, the bail 31 will be rocked adifferential amount and the check dial 2'! rotated a correspondingamount so as to bring the appropriate numeral thereon, corresponding tothe value of the key depressed, into viewing position beneath theaperture 43.

Decimal point indicators For the purpose of enabling the location of thedecimal point to be indicated with respect to the rows of amount keys 20and the check dials 21, a plurality of longitudinally extending decimalpoint indicating bars 50 are rotatably journalled to rock in theframework of the keyboard immediately beneath the cover plate 44. Asshown in Figure 2, each bar member 50 is provided, toward its rear end,with a portion of reduced diameter which is received within anopen-ended slot formed at the upper edge of the keyboard back plate 38.Similarly, at its forward end, each bar 50 is formed with a tenon 52which is journalled in an elongated slot 53 provided in a transversebracket 54 which is secured to the framework of the keyboard by means ofscrews 55. Thus the bars may have limited movement in the slots 53toward and from the cover plate 44. The bars 50 are provided at eitherend with polygonal, e. g. octagonal-shaped indicator members or parts 56and 51, which members are pressed upwardly into engagement with thesurface of concave recesses 58 and 59, respectively, by means of a leafspring 60 which is provided with a lip 6| bearing against the undersideof its associated bar 50 and secured at its other end by means of ascrew 62 to the keyboard framework. Hence, each of the bars 50 will beyieldably retained in its adjusted position by means of the frictionalengagement of the elements 56 and 51 with the cover plate 44. As shownin Figures 2 and 3, the elements 56 and 51 are provided with foursimilar faces 63, at least one of which is provided with a color whichmatches that of the keyboard cover plate 44. This painted surface 63 isheld against the cover plate 44 by a, spring when the elements 56 and 51are in their normal positions. In a similar manner, at least one of theremaining four surfaces, herein designated by reference numeral 64, isprovided with a color which is distinctively different from thatprovided on the cover plate 44. Thus, a counterclockwise rotation of theelements 56 and 51 (Figs. 1 and 3) from their normal positions moves apainted surface 64 to bear against the underneath side of the coverplate 44.

In order that each of the elements 56 and 51 may be viewed by theoperator of the machine, the cover plate 44 is provided with a series ofapertures 65 and 66 (Fig. l) which lie immediately over the elements 56and 51, respectively, the apertures 65 being deployed ordinally andlocated between each ordinal row of keys near the bottom of the keyboardwhile the apertures 66 lie between adjacent pairs of check dials 21 nearthe top of the keyboard. Hence, when the bars 50 and elements 56 and 51are positioned with their surfaces 63 located beneath the apertures 65and 66, the color provided on the surfaces 63 will blend into thematching color of the cover plate 44 and the decimal point indicatorwill be located in what may be called a non-marking or non-indicatingposition. However, when the bars and elements are rotatedcounterclockwise, as viewed in Figure 3, through an arc of so as tobring the surfaces 64 beneath the apertures and 66, the distinguishingcolors provided on the surfaces 64 will be viewable through theapertures provided in the cover plate and the decimal point indicatorwill then be in a marking or indicating position.

The bars 50 may be manually rotated from a marking position to anon-marking position, or vice versa, by means of setting devicescomprising knurled sectors 10 which are mounted on the forward ends ofthe bars and project through suitable slots H provided in the keyboardcover plate 44. Hence, by means of the manually operable, ordinallyaligned sectors 10, each indicator bar 50 may be selectively adjusted toeither its marking or its non-marking position, whereby the rows ofamount keys and their associated check dials may be pointed off in themanner required by the particular numbers involved in the problem beingset up on the calculating machine.

Decimal point indicator restoring mechanism Inasmuch as it is generallydesirable to restore all of the decimal point indicators to theirnonmarking positions when a different decimal point set-up is requiredon the keyboard of the machine, means is provided in the presentinstance for enabling the operator to simultaneously restore all of thebars 50 to their nonmarking or non-indicating positions. As shown inFigures 3 and 4, each sector 10 is provided with a tail 12 which, asshown in Figure 3, will be moved to a substantially vertical positionwhen its associated bar 50 is in its counterclockwise (Figure 3) ormarking position. Lying in cooperative relationship with the tails 12are a plurality of ears 13 formed along the upper edge of a transverseslide 14 which is supported for sliding movement on the bracket 54 bymeans of elongated slots 15 provided in the slide through which passscrews 16 which fasten into the bracket 54. The slide 74 is normallyurged toward the left, as viewed from the front of the machine (Figure4), by means of a spring 11 which is tensioned between a stud 18 securedto the slide 14 and a portion of the bracket 54. The slide 14 isprovided with a forwardly extending finger 19 (Figures 2 and 3) whichlies in front of a downwardly extending flange provided on a keeperplate 8| which lies beneath the cover plate 44. The plate 8! isconnected with manually manipulatable operatin bar part 82 located onthe upper face of the plate 44 by means of tenons 83 provided on the bar82 which pass through an elongated slot 84 formed in the plate 44, thesetenons being secured to the keeper plate 8|. Hence, when the bar 82 ismoved parallel to the alignment of the devices 10 toward the right, asviewed in Figure 1, the slide 14 will be moved toward the right, asviewed in Figure 4, or toward the left, as viewed in Figure 3, therebycausing the ears 13 to contact the tails 12 on the sectors '10 of any ofthe bars 50 which are in their "marking positions, thereby rotating thebars clockwise, as viewed in Figure 3, so as to bring the surfaces 63 onthe elements 56 and 51 into position beneath the apertures 65 and 6B.The decimal point indicators will thus be simultaneously restored totheir non-marking positions by a single movement of the bar 82 towardthe right, as viewed in Figure 1. As soon as the operator releases thebar 82, it and the slide 14 will be returned toward the left by means ofthe spring 11.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine of the class described having a keyboard comprising aplurality of rows of depressible amount keys, and a cover plate for saidkeyboard, the combination of a keyboard set-up indicator located inalignment with each row of keys and lying beneath an aperture formed insaid cover plate for visually indicating the numerical value of the keydepressed in each row of keys, and a decimal point indicator comprisinga member rotatably mounted under said cover plate and extending betweeneach row of keys and between each pair of adjacent set-up indicators,each of said members having two indicator parts, each including twocolored surfaces the first of which is of the same color as said coverplate and the second of which is of a distinctly different color, saidcover plate having a pair of apertures located immediately over each ofthe indicator parts of said members, one of said apertures of each pairbeing located at the end of the associated row of keys which is removedfrom said keyboard indicator and the other aperture of each pair beinglocated adjacent to said keyboard indicator thereby providing a decimalpoint indicating means for simultaneously marking off the rows of keysand also the keyboard indicators.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1 which includes means for enablingeach of said rotatable members to be manually positioned so as to causeone or the other of the colored surfaces to be visible through saidapertures.

3. A machine as defined in claim 1 which includes means forsimultaneously restoring all of said members from the position in whichsaid second colored surfaces are visible through said apertures to theposition in which said first colored surface is visible therethrough.

4. A machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofindividually rockably settable decimal point indicators, said indicatorseach having a marking position and a non-marking position, a commonmeans for simultaneously restoring all of the indicators from theirmarking positions to their non-marking positions, a polygonal part oneach of said indicators, a fixed concave recess associated with each ofsaid polygonal parts, and means for yieldably retaining each of saidindicators in either its marking position or its non-marking position,according to the position in which it is set, said retaining meanscomprising spring means resiliently urging said polygonal parts intopressing contact with the respectively associated concave recesses.

5. A machine of the class described comprising a plural order amountentering means, a decimal point indicator located between each order ofsaid amount entering means, said indicator including a rotatable memberhaving a marking position and a non-marking position, means for manuallysetting each of said members to either of said positions, a single meansfor synchronously restoring all of said members from their markingpositions to their non-marking positions, and means for resilientlyretaining each of said indicators in either its marking or itsnonmarking position according to the position in which it is set.

6. A machine as defined in claim 5 in which the restoring means includesa single manually operable member.

7. In a machine of the class described having a keyboard comprising aplurality of ordinal rows of depressible amount keys, and a cover platefor said keyboard, a decimal point indicator comprising a-plurality ofapertures in said cover plate deployed ordinally with respect to saidkeyboard and being individually located between adjacent keyboardordinal rows, a plurality of indicator members under said cover platemovable relatively to the respective apertures so as either to mark orto not mark a decimal point in the associated apertures, manuallyoperable setting devices connected respectively to said members, andbeingdisposed in line and in ordinally spaced relation above said coverplate, and being individually movable parallel to their alignment formoving the respectively associated indicator members selectively totheir marking and non-marking positons, and means for simultaneouslyrestoring to non-marking positions any indicator members standing inmarking positions, said restoring means including a manuallymanipulatable part mounted above said cover plate adjacent said line ofmanually operable devices and being movable parallel to the alignment ofsaid devices for effecting operation of said restoring means.

8. In a calculating machine having a keyboard comprising a plurality ofordinal rows of depressible amount keys, a cover plate for saidmechanism, and decimal point indicating means for marking off decimalpoints between selected adjacent rows of keys, said indicating meanscomprising, for each of a plurality of pairs of adjacent rows of keys,an aperture in said cover plate, a cancave recess on the bottom face ofsaid plate surrounding said aperture, a member mounted to rock undersaid cover plate and the aperture therein and to have limited movementtowards and from said cover plate, a polygonal part on said memberdirectly under said aperture, different faces of said part being ofdifferent colors so as, when respectively displayed through saidaperture, to mark or not to mark a decimal point, spring means forurging said member toward said cover plate to press said polygonal partinto contact with said concave recess so as yieldingly to hold saidmember and said polygonal part thereof with one face of said partdisplayed through said aperture, and means for rocking said memberagainst the holding influence of said spring means to another setting inwhich another face of said part is displayed through said aperture.

ANTHONY B. MACHADO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 974,937 Wales Nov. 8, 19102,059,458 Hosack Nov. 3, 1936 2,059,652 Pott Nov. 3, 1936 2,269,907Gustavson Jan. 13, 1942 2,294,948 Avery Sept. 8, 1942 2,329,180 BoydSept. 14, 1943

